UFTI has begun a 12-month programme of work which will be delivered in four phases. The project partners will work with iwi, the business sector, community groups and political leaders, building on the consultation undertaken and feedback collected as part of the Tauranga Transport Plan, Tauranga Urban Growth Strategy and Future Development Strategy.

As the region grows at a significant rate, it is constantly being challenged to ensure urban and transport infrastructure meets the needs of local communities. Planning, investment and development has been unable to keep up with demand.

In the past five years, local councils and SmartGrowth have tried to focus on overcoming these challenges. A lot of planning and community engagement has been done but it has been in silos and generally we have lost momentum from a sub-regional perspective.

Transport is a major issue, so too is a lack of affordable housing and land supply which is constrained due to the natural environment as well as infrastructure affordability and provision. There are at least 24 major urban development or transport projects underway across the western Bay. Many have been developed separately and there is not an adequate master plan, supported by advanced modelling of options and scenarios, to align these at a governance and operational level.

There is an opportunity to build a much more cohesive approach.

Recent feedback on the SmartGrowth Future Development Strategy was loud and clear – local people want bold leadership as we move forward. With the launch of UFTI, we’re hopeful that we’re providing exactly that.

Priority One's latest Infometrics quarterly economic report "showed traffic flows in Tauranga City increased 5.7% in the year to September." (Bay of Plenty Times 5 December 2018)

The BOPT cites Tauranga City Council data showing that "it took 26.05 seconds longer to travel 18km of the city's key routes in peak hours compared to free flow traffic."

Transport is the lifeblood of our community. It helps us reach work or school, socialise, connect with essential services and participate in activities. It strongly influences the shape of urban areas and the way we live our lives.

Yet, it's also the most complex and challenging form of infrastructure to integrate with urban growth particularly given the geography of our area with its narrow peninsulas.

We need to walk and cycle more, use public transport and shift our dependence on private vehicle travel.

The key elements of the Tauranga Transport Programme include: improved services in the existing Tauranga urban areas, additional network capacity for growth areas to the north, east and west, investment in public and active transport and a review of State Highway 2 and 29 projects.

The SmartGrowth partners need to work more closely with the New Zealand Transport Agency and central government to find workable solutions for the western Bay of Plenty.

And there are many ways that you can express your views on the big issues like housing, transport, the environment, community development and the ageing population that we're facing here in the western Bay as we continue to grow quickly. All the information is right here

Fill out the online survey

Complete the submission form and email it to us

Drop in to one of our Community Conversations

Our last community conversation is on Wednesday 31 Oct from 5pm at the Tauranga Art Gallery

The Future Development Strategy aims to drive discussion and decision-making around expected population growth in our western Bay of Plenty. It identifies the big issues – things like housing, transport, employment, an aging demographic, cultural wellbeing, the environment – that we must collectively consider as our numbers swell over the next 30 years. Where and how will we house an extra 66,000 people? What kind of transport systems and infrastructure do we need? What options are on the table right now? How will we pay for it all? This document sets goals but also aims to spark discussion and debate, feedback and great ideas and will be reviewed every three years.

WHO is behind it?

SmartGrowth unites the thinkers and planners who are working to ensure the best possible future for residents in our area. It places Tauranga City Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council shoulder to shoulder withtangata whenua, community and business representatives and key government agencies.

Our collective aim is sustainable, desirable, affordable living.

WHY does it exist?

Councils in high growth areas are compelled by government to assess future housing and business needs and create a development strategy. Government requirements aside, it would be unthinkable to ignore the rapidly changing needs and demands of our community. Looking ahead, we face significant, ongoing projected population growth…and some likely growing pains.

WHERE is the geographic focus?

If you live – or hope to live – in the western Bay of Plenty, the FDS will affect you. We are considering the whole coastal strip between Waihi Beach and Pukehina, with particular focus on growth in and around Tauranga city.

WHEN? Key dates.

While the development strategy focusses on the next 30 years, it includes a series of fixed term goals such as opening up new housing areas and significantly increasing opportunities for more homes in the existing Tauranga city urban area over the next 10 years. We're consulting on the Tauranga Urban Strategy at the same time.

That’s what got me thinking about how to apply the EAST Framework – the four simple principles for applying behavioural insights to policymaking – to our housing challenge.

The UK Behavioural Insights team, also unofficially known as the Nudge Unit, now operates internationally after being established by the UK Cabinet Office to improve public policy interventions there.

The team developed a framework setting out its approach and insights. It simply says that if you want to encourage a behaviour, you need to make it EAST - Easy, Attractive, Social and Timely.

So I am challenging myself now to think about housing using the following questions.

How do we make delivering and building new types of affordable housing easy and reduce the hassle factor?

How do we make it attractive to build and deliver more choice of housing types at different price points? How do we design rewards and sanctions for maximum effect to achieve that outcome?

How do we make it social to live differently in denser communities and use the power of our community and business networks to make that a reality?

And how do we implement any policies in a timely manner, picking the right time to prompt people to make changes? How do we effectively identify the barriers to speeding up actions?

That is quite a list. However, the thinking approach has helped me visualise the way forward. Hopefully, it will inspire all our partners too. We have a lot of momentum across the SmartGrowth Partnership following the release of our latest research on housing demand and need looking ahead 30 years. Now, the task turns to a Housing Action Framework that will make a difference.

Could our design community work smarter to improve housing in the western Bay? (The answer is yes, find out why!)

A call for Tauranga’s design community to work together could mean more innovation and better solutions for housing challenges in the western Bay.

September’s Smart Talk Future Thinking speaker series event ‘Placemaking and Density Done Well’ highlighted the need for collaboration and new ways of thinking from architects, designers, developers and local authorities.

Partnering with the New Zealand Institute of Architects and The Festival of Architecture for the very first time, the free event attracted more than 120 people who engaged with a panel of four New Zealand thought-leaders.

Do we need a design community coalition?

Introducing the challenges and opportunities of great placemaking and urban design, the experts talked about their experiences with density, urbanism, co-design, green and brownfield environments, creative engagement with community and much more.

“There were some really interesting questions, particularly around incentives to build high quality medium density housing,” said Lisa Mein. “The design community (architects, urban designers, landscape architects etc) has a responsibility to push better outcomes from developers and local authorities alike. Many of us do chip away to push those boundaries and the results are visible in the built environment, but it requires a coordinated approach.”

SmartGrowth Manager Bernie Walsh agrees.

“I like the idea of a ‘coalition of the design community’ helping with better outcomes. That’s probably going to be something SmartGrowth could help with at a western Bay level,” said Bernie. “That kind of drive for innovation and solutions, working with others from a design coalition across urban designers, architects and planners is something needed for the future of transport as well as housing here in the Bay.”

What were the other takeaway messages?

Here are some key observations from the discussion:

It’s important to invest in great public spaces and amenities upfront (meeting places, parks, walkways, cycleways) if you want more density and more housing choice. This will encourage people to realise that having a smaller home isn’t an issue in terms of still having a great quality of life. People use great public spaces to meet and enjoy life and it’s good for a city to have that vibrant community street life.

We need to make it easier for builders and developers to do things differently, if that will deliver good design outcomes and more housing choice. We need to look at ways to build in flexibility to council processes and rules and somehow incentivise the provision of more housing choice – particularly one and two-bedroom homes. Housing affordability is a big concern.

Councils, builders and developers will need to work together. No single sector is going to solve the housing affordability issue – it’s got to be a joined up effort with central government too, across the social, affordable and market housing sectors. We want more housing choice, and there is demand for smaller homes, but we have to ensure we get the urban design and quality of those homes right.

We shape our cities

The overall theme was summed up nicely by one of the 120 attendees at the Smart Talk Future Thinking event when she adapted a quote by Winston Churchill: “We shape our cities, and then our cities shape us.” *